19 Facts About The Deindustrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind

The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on the globe.  All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing.  It was America that was at the forefront of the industrial revolution.  It was America that showed the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to airplanes.  It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany and Japan in World War II.  But now we are witnessing the deindustrialization of America.  Tens of thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone.  Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time period.  The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight and yet produces increasingly little.

Do you know what our biggest export is today?  Waste paper.  Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the world wants to sell to us.  The United States has become bloated and spoiled and our economy is now  just a shadow of what it once was.  Once upon a time America could literally outproduce the rest of the world combined.  Today that is no longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world.  If the deindustrialization of America continues at this current pace, what possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?

Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things.  So if the United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great nation?  We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable.  Every single month America does into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.

So what happens when the debt bubble pops?

The deindustrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every man, woman and child in the country.  But sadly, most Americans do not have any idea what is going on around them.

For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them.  Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them from their slumber.

The following are 19 facts about the deindustrialization of America that will blow your mind….

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001.  About 75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in operation.

#2 Dell Inc. (DELL: 12.65 +0.50 +4.12%), one of America's largest manufacturers of computers, has announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in November.  Approximately 900 jobs will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cellphones were sold worldwide.  So how many of them were manufactured inside the United States?  Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1 million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output.  In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company (F: 12.56 +0.25 +2.03%) recently announced the closure of a factory that produces the Ford Ranger in St. Paul, Minnesota. Approximately 750 good paying middle class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing.  The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita broadband Internet use.  Today it ranks 15th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products.  Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1 that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States.

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in the 51 years that records have been kept.

So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do something about it?

How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?

How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?

How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic suicide?

The deindustrialization of America is a national crisis.  It needs to be treated like one.

If you disagree with this article, I have a direct challenge for you.  If anyone can explain how a deindustrialized America has any kind of viable economic future, please do so below in the comments section.

America is in deep, deep trouble folks.  It is time to wake up.

Earnings Preview: Just A Handful Of Earnings

The second quarter earnings season is over, and now we are getting the first of the third quarter. We define any fiscal period ending in August, September and October to be the third quarter. Still, we are just talking about a trickle of reports — a total of 40 companies will announce earnings next week. However, that includes six from the S&P 500, including Paychex (PAYX: 27.23 +0.98 +3.73%), Jabil Circuit (JBL: 13.57 +0.89 +7.02%), Walgreen's (WAG: 30.36 +0.85 +2.88%), Family Dollar (FDO: 43.40 +0.13 +0.30%), Micron Tech (MU: 7.199 +0.529 +7.93%) and McCormick (MKC: 41.72 +0.67 +1.63%). That is an interesting cross-section of companies and together they should give some interesting clues on the overall economy.

With little action on the earnings front, all eyes will be focused on the economic data. We will have a fairly active week on the data front, starting with data on home prices with the Case Schiller index, followed by measures of consumer confidence. Later in the week we get the final read on second quarter GDP and personal income and spending in September. Not a super heavy load of data, but enough to be interesting.

Monday

• Nothing of significance.

Tuesday

• The Case Schiller home price index should show a year over year increase in home prices that was slightly lower in July than June. While the index is the gold standard for measuring home prices, it is also very late data. Not only is this July data when we are almost in October, but it is actually a three month moving average of May, June and July data. The May and June data was still being supported by the homebuyer tax credit. The real weakness in the Case Schiller data is not likely to show up for another few months, but with a massive inventory overhang relative to sales in existing homes, the weakness will show up.
• Consumer Confidence is expected to rise slightly to 54.0 for September from 53.5 in August. That is still a very low level, as in a healthy economy it will be closer to 90. While theoretically important since the Consumer represents 71% of the economy, the actual track record of this survey, and the University of Michigan number due out later in the week, is not very good at actually forecasting consumer behavior. Still, an increase would be better than a decline.

Wednesday

• No economic releases of note.

Thursday

• Weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance come out. They rose by 12,000 in the last week, to 465,000 — the first increase after four straight weeks of declines. After a huge downtrend from mid-April through the end of 2009, initial claims have been locked in a tight "trading range." Look for them to fall modestly next week, but stay within the trading range. We probably need for weekly claims (and the four-week moving average of them) to get down to closer to 400,000 to signal that the economy is adding enough jobs to make a dent in the unemployment rate. A rate of over 500,000 signals that the unemployment rate is probably headed back up and a high probability of a double dip.
• Continuing claims have also been in a downtrend of late. Last week they fell by 48,000 to 4.489 million. That is down 1.578 million from a year ago. Most of the longer-term decline due to people simply exhausting their regular state benefits which run out after 26 weeks. Federally paid extended claims rose by 208,000 to 5.172 million.  Looking at just the regular continuing claims numbers is a serious mistake. They only include a little over half of the unemployed now given the unprecedentedly high duration of unemployment figures. A better measure is the total number of people getting unemployment benefits, currently at 9.661 million, which is up 160,000 from last week. The total number of people getting benefits is now 262,000 below year-ago levels. Make sure to look at both sets of numbers! Many of the press reports will not, but we will here at Zacks.
• The final look at second quarter GDP is expected to be unchanged from the second look at 1.6% growth. However, there is much more to the report than the overall number. The composition of the growth makes a big difference to how sustainable that growth is. Growth coming from firms investing in new plant and equipment, for example, is better than growth that comes simply from rebuilding inventories.
• The Chicago PMI, one of the "regional mini-ISM's" is expected to rise to 57.0 from 56.7 in August. That would indicate a fairly healthy level of growth in the manufacturing in the Midwest, and an acceleration of activity from last month.

Friday

• Personal Income is expected to have risen by 0.2% in August, matching its 0.2% increase in July. Personal Spending is expected to have slowed to 0.3% from 0.4% in July. However, if the increase in spending is higher than the increase in income, it means that the savings rate is declining. In the short term that is good for the economy, but in the long term it is very harmful.
• The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index, like the consumer confidence index is expected to post a slight rise, but remain at a very low level. In this case the consensus expectations are for a rise to 66.9 from 66.6.
• Construction Spending is expected to decline by 0.3% in August. That is actually a significant improvement over the 1.0% decline in July.
• The ISM manufacturing index is expected to have declined to 55.0 from 56.3 in August. This is a "magic 50" index where 50 represents the line between expansion and contraction. Thus the index will be showing a relatively healthy rate of expansion in August, but a slower rate than in July.
• Auto and Truck sales are expected to be close to unchanged in September relative to August. On a year-over-year basis they will look very strong, but that will be from the end of the Cash for Clunkers hangover a year ago.

Company	Ticker	Qtr End	EPS Est	Year Ago EPS	Last EPS Surprise %	Next EPS Report Date	Time	Daily Price
CAL-MAINE FOODS	CALM	201008	-0.06	-0.16	35.38	20100927	BTO	$29.76
NATUZZI SPA-ADR	NTZ	201006	999	-0.1	N/A	20100927	BTO	$3.54
PALATIN TECH	PTN	201006	999	0	-999	20100927	BTO	$0.18
PAYCHEX INC	PAYX	201008	0.34	0.34	3.23	20100927	AMC	$26.25
WOLSELEY -ADR	WOSCY	201007	999	999	N/A	20100927		$2.33
AVATECH SOLUTNS	AVSO	201006	999	-0.03	N/A	20100928	BTO	$0.70
JABIL CIRCUIT	JBL	201008	0.41	0.1	7.69	20100928	BTO	$12.68
LANDEC CORP	LNDC	201008	0.1	0.08	-11.11	20100928	AMC	$5.55
MATRIX SERVICE	MTRX	201006	0.13	0.26	77.78	20100928	BTO	$8.96
MODUSLINK GLBL	MLNK	201007	999	0	N/A	20100928	AMC	$7.02
PRO-DEX INC -CO	PDEX	201006	999	0.06	N/A	20100928		$2.22
RADIANT LOGIST	RLGT	201006	0.01	0	0	20100928		$0.36
SEALY CORP	ZZ	201008	0.05	0.05	0	20100928	AMC	$2.53
STANDARD MICROS	SMSC	201008	0.26	-0.12	-14.29	20100928	AMC	$20.49
SUTOR TECH GRP	SUTR	201006	0.09	0.03	-25	20100928	BTO	$1.72
WALGREEN CO	WAG	201008	0.44	0.44	-17.54	20100928	BTO	$29.51
ACTUANT CORP	ATU	201008	0.28	0.18	18.52	20100929	BTO	$21.49
ALLSCRIPTS HLTH	MDRX	201008	0.16	0.13	6.67	20100929	AMC	$17.90
AMER GREETINGS	AM	201008	0.46	0.39	-5.06	20100929	BTO	$19.71
CHINA PRECISION	CPSL	201006	0.04	0.05	0	20100929		$1.79
FAMILY DOLLAR	FDO	201008	0.51	0.43	1.32	20100929	BTO	$43.27
MICRON TECH	MU	201008	0.41	-0.1	9.52	20100929	AMC	$6.67
OMNOVA SOLUTION	OMN	201008	0.23	0.24	52.63	20100929	AMC	$7.33
SYNNEX CORP	SNX	201008	0.74	0.67	2.94	20100929	AMC	$24.81
THOR INDS INC	THO	201007	0.63	0.44	5	20100929	DMT	$26.49
WORTHINGTON IND	WOR	201008	0.24	0.11	50	20100929	AMC	$14.63
XYRATEX LTD	XRTX	201008	0.94	0.28	12.7	20100929	AMC	$16.03
ACCENTURE PLC	ACN	201008	0.63	0.63	5.8	20100930	AMC	$42.43
AEHR TEST SYS	AEHR	201008	999	-0.27	N/A	20100930	AMC	$1.35
AMER APPAREL	APP	201006	-0.11	0.06	0	20100930	BTO	$1.25
AZZ INC	AZZ	201008	0.71	0.89	1.79	20100930	AMC	$40.73
CHRISTOPHER&BNK	CBK	201008	-0.05	-0.06	50	20100930	AMC	$7.29
CRA INTL INC	CRAI	201008	0.3	0.31	26.67	20100930	BTO	$16.31
DEMANDTEC INC	DMAN	201008	-0.09	-0.07	-21.43	20100930	AMC	$9.02
LAWSON SOFTWARE	LWSN	201008	0.07	0.04	0	20100930	AMC	$8.02
MCCORMICK & CO	MKC	201008	0.59	0.57	8.89	20100930	BTO	$41.05
MSCI INC-A	MSCI	201008	0.33	0.27	12.9	20100930		$33.67
OCE VANDER GRIN	OCENY	201008	999	-0.44	N/A	20100930	DMT	$10.12
RESOURCES CNCTN	RECN	201008	0	0	0	20100930	AMC	$12.67
SMART MODULAR	SMOD	201008	0.2	0	26.32	20100930	AMC	$5.85

Japan Intervenes To Bail Out America.com

This week, after the Japanese yen had surged to a fifteen-year high against the US dollar, the Japanese government decided to intervene in the foreign exchange market. To great fanfare, the Bank of Japan initiated a vigorous campaign to buy US dollars, thereby stemming the rise of the yen and pulling up the greenback. The effects were immediate, with the yen falling an astonishing 3% on the day of the announcement. At a time when American politicians are growing increasingly vocal about China's currency manipulations, Washington was strangely silent on the Japanese move. This was completely overlooked by the hawkeyed media.

While missing this blatant irony, the media spin doctors cast the Japanese decision as an attempt by the island state to prop up its own fragile economy. More accurately, the intervention was done to help American consumers buy more cars and electronics from Japan. In truth, although more American purchases would nominally benefit some Japanese exporters, a weaker currency is a detriment to the overall Japanese economy.

The politics of currency intervention are actually quite simple. Japan's economy is dominated by large manufacturers that export lots of goods to Americans. The problem is that Americans can't really afford to buy in the quantities that they did just a few years ago. So, instead of looking for new customers with more money to spend, either in their own country or in other productive economies, Japanese manufacturers use their political clout to lobby their government to bail out their traditional U.S. customers. The bailout takes the form of a direct transfer of purchasing power from Japanese savers to American consumers, so that Americans can continue buying products they couldn't otherwise afford. In short, pushing up the dollar allows Japanese exporters to postpone a necessary, but costly, restructuring.

The tendency for governments to sacrifice the needs of the general population in favor of entrenched corporate interests is not unique to Japan. In the United States, we have taken similar measures on behalf of our dominant industries. However, instead of manufacturers and exporters, whose political clout has waned along with their economic prospects, Washington has moved to protect the profits of the financial, retail, and real estate industries – the true heavyweights of the American corporate world. These industries profit when Americans borrow money to buy things they can't afford. To keep this behavior going, the government must make it possible for consumers to take on more debt; but, in so doing, these policies have left us with an ailing economy in need of deep and drastic restructuring.

In a way, what the Japanese government is doing for American consumers is very similar to what our government is doing for American homebuyers. Rather than let home prices fall, the US government subsidizes homebuyers so they can continue overpaying for houses they cannot actually afford. The beneficiaries of these moves are those selling, building, and financing overpriced homes. Unfortunately, the last thing we need as a nation is to build, buy, or finance more homes. Our economy would improve if the resources devoted to the real estate market could be devoted to other, more needed industries.

Japan should allow the dollar to fall, which would force their manufacturers to adapt to a changing global market where Americans consume less, and those in emerging markets consume more. Instead, it is vainly trying to preserve the status quo and appease entrenched political factions.

Just like here in the US, Japanese politicians take cover by falsely claiming that the intervention "saves jobs." However, the jobs that are saved come at the expense of more productive jobs that are either lost or not created. If Americans cannot afford to buy Japanese products, it makes no sense for the Japanese to continue selling them to us. Rather they should devote their time, effort, savings and resources to selling products to customers who can actually afford to pay.

Japan's bailout of American consumers is nothing more than international vendor financing. This is the same technique used by telecom companies during the Internet boom of the late '90s. In order to pump up short-term profits, manufacturers of communications gear loaned money to cash-strapped Internet startups so they could buy switches and routers. Of course, when the dot-coms went bankrupt, all those phony sales were written off; then, the stocks of those companies doing the financing, like Cisco (CSCO: 21.8625 -0.0675 -0.31%), Lucent (LU: 2.55 0.00 0.00%), and Nortel (NT: 0.32 0.00 0.00%), collapsed as well (though they did not collapse to zero like the dot-com companies). Although their performance would have lagged during the boom, the equipment manufactures would have been in far better shape fundamentally if the phony sales had never been made.

The same fate awaits the US and Japan. In this analogy, Japan is Cisco and the United States is Pets.com. Sooner rather than later, both Japan and China will realize that they have been hoodwinked by a fast-talking sock puppet without a credible plan to pay them back. When that happens, they will take the write down and let us fend for ourselves.

More Americans Than Ever Are Slipping Into Poverty

For most Americans, the economic collapse is something that is happening to someone else.  Most of us have become so isolated from each other and so self-involved that unless something is directly affecting us or a close family member than we really don't feel it.  But even though most of us enjoy a much closer relationship with our television sets than we do with our neighbors at this point, it is quickly becoming undeniable that a fundamental shift is taking place in society.  Perhaps you noticed it when two or three foreclosure signs went up on your street.  Or perhaps it got your attention when that nice fellow down the street lost his job, and he and his family seemingly just disappeared from the neighborhood one day.  The Census Bureau made front page headlines all over the nation this week when they announced that one out of every seven Americans was living in poverty in 2009.  Every single day more Americans are getting sucked out of the middle class and into soul-crushing poverty.

Unfortunately, most Americans don't really care because it has not affected them yet.

But this year, millions more Americans will discover that the music has stopped playing and they are left without a seat at the table.

Meanwhile, neither political party has a workable solution.  They just like to point fingers and blame each other.

The Democrats blame Bush for all the poverty and advocate expanding programs for the poor.  Not that there is anything wrong with a safety net.  But the "safety net" was never meant to hold 50 million people on Medicaid and 40 million people on food stamps.  The number of Americans on food stamps has more than doubled since 2007.  So do we just double it again as things get even worse?

The truth is that welfare programs are only short-term solutions.  Unfortunately, the Democrats do not understand this.  What Americans really need are good jobs.

The Republicans are so boneheaded that they don't even like to talk about poverty because they think it is a "liberal issue".  Some conservative commentators have even been so brutally cold as to mock the "99ers" (those who have been unemployed so long that even their extended federal benefits have run out).

Instead of showing some compassion and being the party of the American worker (as they should be), the Republicans are often very uncompassionate and they allow the Democrats to be "the party of the poor" by default.

Both political parties need a big wakeup call.  There is a tsunami of poverty sweeping the United States, and somebody better wake up and do something about it.  More handouts will help people get by in the short-term, but there is no way that the federal government can financially support tens of millions more poor Americans.

How long is it going to be before the "safety net" simply collapses under the weight of all this poverty?

The path we are on is not sustainable.

The economy is falling apart, and somebody better wake up and do something before even more Americans find themselves drowning in poverty.

The following are 20 signs that the economic collapse has already begun for one out of every seven Americans…..

#1 The Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in 51 years of record-keeping.

#2 In the year 2000, 11.3 percent of Americans were living in poverty.  In 2008, 13.2 percent of Americans were living in poverty.  In 2009, 14.3 percent of Americans were living in poverty.  Needless to say the trend is moving in the wrong direction.

#3 In 2009 alone, approximately 4 million more Americans joined the ranks of the poor.

#4 According to the Associated Press, experts believe that 2009 saw the largest single year increase in the U.S. poverty rate since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959.

#5 The U.S. poverty rate is now the third worst among the developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

#6 Today the United States has approximately 4 million fewer wage earners than it did in 2007.

#7 Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment insurance, which is almost four times as many as were receiving it in 2007.

#8 U.S. banks repossessed 25 percent more homes in August 2010 than they did in August 2009.

#9 One out of every seven mortgages in the United States was either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2010.

#10 There are now 50.7 million Americans who do not have health insurance.  One trip to the emergency room would be all it would take to bankrupt a significant percentage of them.

#11 More than 50 million Americans are now on Medicaid, the U.S. government health care program designed principally to help the poor.

#12 There are now over 41 million Americans on food stamps.

#13 The number of Americans enrolled in the food stamp program increased a whopping 55 percent from December 2007 to June 2010.

#14 One out of every six Americans is now being served by at least one government anti-poverty program.

#15 California's poverty rate soared to 15.3 percent in 2009, which was the highest in 11 years.

#16 According to an analysis by Isabel Sawhill and Emily Monea of the Brookings Institution, 10 million more Americans (including 6 million more children) will slip into poverty over the next decade.

#17 According to a recently released Federal Reserve report, Americans experienced a $1.5 trillion loss in combined household net worth in the second quarter of 2010.

#18 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in 2010 than it was in 1975.

#19 Median U.S. household income is down 5 percent from its peak of more than $52,000 in 1999.

#20 A study recently released by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College University found that Americans are $6.6 trillion short of what they need for retirement.

How anyone can look at those numbers and think that things are about to "get better" absolutely boggles the mind.

It is time to wake up.

Things are not going to get better.

Things are only going to get worse.

The United States is rapidly becoming a nation where poverty is absolutely rampant.

As poverty continues to spread, crime will not be far behind.

Meanwhile, the international community wants to impose a global tax on us so that they can "redistribute" even more of our wealth around the world.

The following was just reported by CNSNews.com….

A group of 60 nations will meet next week at the United Nations to push for a tax on foreign currency transactions as a way to generate revenue to meet global poverty-reduction goals, including "climate change" mitigation.

Well isn't that great?  As American descends into poverty, the rest of the world is pushing for a global tax that will drain us of wealth even more.

It is just a tax on foreign currency transactions, but history has taught us that once taxers get their foot in the door they always go for more eventually.

Sadly, it is not just the United Nations that is discussing a global tax.  In fact, the IMF and the World Health Organization have both been very open about the fact that they want to impose global taxes of their own.

Not that we aren't taxed enough already.  We already pay dozens of different kinds of taxes each year, and 2011 is already being dubbed as "the year of the tax increase".

But most Americans don't have any more to give.  Most Americans can barely make it from month to month.  More Americans than ever are slipping into poverty.

What a mess we have on our hands.

Do any of you have any suggestions for how we should go about fixing all of this?

 

Stock Markets: Extended Trading Range?

I have argued for a while that stock markets will probably be fluctuating in broad trading ranges for a while. This is a viewpoint also shared by Marc Faber and backed up by my study of expected returns.

More evidence comes from Chart of the Day, with a chart illustrating rallies that followed massive bear markets. A "massive" bear market is defined as a decline of greater than 50%. Since the Dow's inception in 1896, there have been only three bear markets whereby the Dow declined more than 50% (early 1930s, late 1930s until early 1940s, and during the very recent financial crisis). The chart also includes the rally that followed the dot-com bust during which the Nasdaq declined 78%.

"The current Dow rally has followed a path that is fairly similar to that of post-massive bear market rallies. The initial surge of the current rally lasted nearly 300 trading days and has been trading flat/choppy ever since. If the current rally were to continue to follow the post-massive bear market rally pattern, the current choppy phase would continue for another 200+ trading days," said Chart of the Day.

The study's conclusion more or less ties in with how I see the lie of the land.

ETF Based On Islam To Shut Doors

On October 19, 2010, Javelin Exchange Traded Shares will officially close the door on the Dow Jones Islamic Market International Index Fund (JVS: 46.27 0.00 0.00%). 

JVS first began trading in July 2009 and came to market to offer investors a way to gain access to companies that abided by Islamic law.  The strategy excluded businesses that were involved in the alcohol and tobacco industries, gambling, pornography, unconventional financial services and those that produced pork-related food products.  Some of JVS' holdings include metals and mining giant BHP Billiton (BHP: 72.53 -0.73 -1.00%), pharmaceutical giants Novartis (NVS: 55.74 +0.40 +0.72%) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK: 39.82 -0.09 -0.23%) as well as energy giant BP (BP: 38.03 -0.24 -0.63%). 

The closing of the Islamic based ETF, marks the 31^st ETF to close its doors this year and comes days after the announcement by Geary Advisors to close the Oklahoma Exchange-Traded Fund (OOK: 32.33 -0.07 -0.22%) and Texas Exchange-Traded Fund (TXF: 37.13 -0.12 -0.32%). 

For investors that are still seeking to gain access to "socially responsible investing" through ETFs, one could consider the following options:

• FaithShares Baptist Values (FZB: 26.51 +0.84 +3.27%)
• FaithShares  Catholic Values (FCV: 26.74 +0.21 +0.79%)
• FaithShares Christian  Values (FOC: 26.87 +0.15 +0.56%)
• FaithShares Methodist  Values (FKL: 24.3399 0.00 0.00%)
• FaithShares Lutheran Values (FMV: 26.86 +0.62 +2.36%)

Stock Picks : ReneSola, JA Solar, THQ, Suntech Power Holdings

ReneSola Ltd. (SOL: 10.20 0.00 0.00%) made a strong upside reversal today and looks like it wants to make a run to new 52-week highs. Watch the stock closely on Wednesday, and once it breaks through $10.26, get ready to enter the trade. The technical chart above shows a continuation of the uptrend. MACD and RSI are bullish, although RSI suggests an over-bought condition. SOL can be a volatile stock, so be careful with your share size.

 

JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (JASO: 7.18 0.00 0.00%) – After making a big move the past few days, JASO is now consolidating. The stock wants to move higher and this could happen very soon. I'm a buyer of JASO once it breaks $7.49. There is a chance the stock will consolidate for another day or so, but watch it closely on wednesday in case it breaks early.

 

THQ Inc. (THQI: 3.60 0.00 0.00%) – It seems that all bad news has been fully priced into this stock. Company had a miserable sales warning Monday evening, but despite the lower guidance, the stock didn't react much to the news, this means that the stock is about to start its journey up. If THQI can break through $3.77, we should see strong volume drive the stock higher. You need to watch the stock closely because it could break resistance very soon.

 

The stock continues to sit in a consolidation range. At some point, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (STP: 9.02 0.00 0.00%) will breakout and I want to be there for this move. Resistance stays at $9.19. Fresh long should be made only when the stock closes above this level with an up candle.

New 52-week High stocks

Q – QWEST COMM INTL INC
GDX – MKT VECT GOLD MNRS
NEM – NEWMONT MINING CORP
ATML – Atmel Corporation
SLW – Silver Wheaton
NTAP – NetApp
SOLF – Solarfun Power Holdings
RDWR – Radware Ltd.
ENTR – Entropic Communication
GSS – Golden Star Resources
CTXS – Citrix Systems, Inc.
YUM – TRICON GLOBAL REST INC
CNP – CenterPoint Energy Inc
DE – DEERE & CO
CTL – Centurylink Inc
INFN – Infinera Corp
VMW – VMWARE INC CLASS A
VOD – Vodafone Gp Plc
AKAM – Akamai Technologies
IVN – IVANHOE MINES LTD ORD
CB – CHUBB CORP
VHC – PASW Inc.
UNP – UNION PACIFIC CORP
VRSN – VeriSign, Inc.
SO – SOUTHERN CO
TTM – TATA MOTORS LTD ADS
ROVI – Macrovision Corporation
MIPS – MIPS Technologies
ARUN – Aruba Networks Inc
MENT – Mentor Graphics Corporation
ACE – Ace Ltd
ENDP – Endo Pharmaceutical
UA – UNDER ARMOUR INC
PAY – Verifone Systems
PETM – PETsMART, Inc.
INFY – Infosys Technologies
CMI – CUMMINS ENGINE CO INC
PCLN – priceline.com Incorporation

List of stocks whose OBV has been increasing over the last 3 days

C – CITIGROUP INC
BAC – BANK OF AMERICA CORP
GE – GENERAL ELECTRIC CO
ORCL – Oracle Corporation
WFC – WELLS FARGO & CO
CIM – Chimera Investment
S – Sprint Corp
HTZ – Hertz Global Holdings
NWSA – News Corp Ltd
Q – QWEST COMM INTL INC
NOK – NOKIA CORP
T – AT&T Inc
CMCSA – Comcast Corporation
MGM – Mgm Resorts Int
KEY – KEYCORP
EK – EASTMAN KODAK CO
SYMC – Symantec Corporation
FITB – Fifth Third Bancorp
MS – Morgan Stanley
JNJ – JOHNSON & JOHNSON
MDT – MEDTRONIC INC
BMY – BRISTOL MYERS
DIS – DISNEY CO WALT HLDG CO
RIG – Transocean Ltd
SBUX – Starbucks Corporation
CVX – Chevron
GPS – GAP INC
CBS – CBS Cl B
BCS – BARCLAYS P L C
MI – MARSHALL & ILSLEY CORP
BBY – BEST BUY CO INC
WMT – Wal-Mart Stores Inc
GILD – Gilead Sciences, Inc.
SLB – SCHLUMBERGER LTD
GNW – GENWORTH FINCL INC
COP – ConocoPhillips
UNH – UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC
SPLS – Staples, Inc.
MON – Monsanto Co
IPG – INTERPUBLIC GRP OF COS
BRK.B – Berkshire Hathaway Inc
AMGN – Amgen Inc.
EP – EL PASO CORP
KFT – KRAFT FOODS INC
WIN – Windstream Corp
PM – Philip Morris International
JDSU – JDS Uniphase Corporation
PWER – Power-One, Inc.
HST – HOST MARRIOTT CORP
PHM – Pultegroup Inc
WY – WEYERHAEUSER CO
CVS – CVS Caremark Corp
IP – INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO
WU – Western Union
AET – AETNA INC
HCBK – Hudson City Bancorp
JBL – JABIL CIRCUIT INC
SD – Sandridge Energy Inc
AMZN – Amazon.com, Inc.
XL – Xl Group Plc
CA – CA Inc
FMCN – Focus Media Hldg
PPL – PPL CORPORATION
FTO – FRONTIER OIL CORP
ALL – ALLSTATE CORP
WAG – WALGREEN CO
CMS – C M S ENERGY CORP
WLP – Wellpoint Inc
DYN – Dynegy Delaware Inc
SWY – SAFEWAY INC
MDY – MidCap SPDRS
DFS – Discover Financial
ESRX – Express Scripts, Inc.
MYL – Mylan Inc
IBN – Icici Bank Ltd
TWX – AMERICA ONLINE INC
MCO – Moody's Corp
AEP – AMERICAN ELEC PWR C
LLY – LILLY ELI & CO
EXPE – EXPEDIA INC
RRI – Rri Energy Inc
SU – SUNCOR ENERGY INC
MDR – MCDERMOTT INTL INC
ACAS – American Cap Ltd
CMCSK – Comcast Corporation
LTD – LIMITED INC
CDNS – CADENCE DESIGN SYS INC
MFC – MANULIFE FINANCIAL
VMED – Virgin Media Inc
VRSN – VeriSign, Inc.
APOL – Apollo Group, Inc.
GCI – GANNETT CO INC
JCI – JOHNSON CONTROLS INC
CY – Cypress Semiconductor
NWL – NEWELL RUBBERMAID INC
BZH – BEAZER HOMES U S A INC
TGT – TARGET CORP
ADSK – Autodesk, Inc.
AFL – AFLAC INC
TSO – Tesoro Corp
CI – C I G N A CORP
LNC – LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP
DHI – Horton DR Inc
MAT – Mattel Co
MBT – MOBIL TELESYSTEMS
AMX – America Movil SA
TIBX – TIBCO Software, Inc.
OXY – OCCIDENTAL PETROLEUM
NOV – NATIONAL OILWELL INC
IVZ – INVESCO LTD
LINTA – LIBERTY MED INT A
PSS – Collective brands
RDN – RADIAN GROUP INC
CTL – Centurylink Inc
SYY – SYSCO CORP
UBS – UBS AG
RDC – ROWAN COS INC
HBC – HSBC Holdings PLC
BBBY – Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.
AIG – AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
GD – GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP
NI – NISOURCE INC
SQNM – Sequenom, Inc.
HOG – HARLEY DAVIDSON INC
MAR – MARRIOTT INTL INC NEW
SPWRA – SUNPOWER CORPORATION

Disclaimer : This is not an investment advisory, and should not be used to make investment decisions. Information in AC Investor Blog is often opinionated and should be considered for information purposes only. No stock exchange anywhere has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein. There is no express or implied solicitation to buy or sell securities. The charts provided here are not meant for investment purposes and only serve as technical examples. Don't consider buying or selling any stock without conducting your own due diligence.